We are living in Jeju Island, South Korea now! I’ve posted a bit about it on Facebook and have started getting questions from people so I decided to write this post. 

It is a huge change after living in Alexandria, Egypt for 3 years, but we really love it here so far!

We lived on campus at our last school where so many things were taken care of for us (3 meals a day, cleaning once a week, laundry once a week, no car needed, all utilities paid except for cell phone) and now we are pretty much on our own.  My new school does pay for lunch for me and housing (though now we have an “apartment management fee” of about $200 each month) and I’m responsible for all other utilities.

Another thing we are getting used to is not having a full-time nanny/house helper for the first time since my kid was 6 months old. My school has helped arrange some low-cost after-school care of about $30 each month which is in an extra room in the lower junior school. There are about 15 other kids in this after-school care and my son is super social so he actually complains if I pick him up earlier some days.

Now we are responsible for taking care of ourselves, but I did manage to snag one of the last openings from the lady who helps clean for a few of the other teachers. It worked out perfectly because our school counselor and I live in the same apartment building (basically next door) so we could share a day! I’m so thankful for this weekly help! Finding helpers is really difficult and expensive here. A lot of families who live here for many years have one parent who stays at home or has older children who can take care of themselves.

My current school is about four times the size of our last one, but it seems like there is about the same number of teacher kids. Thankfully my kid is super outgoing and will happily play with anyone no matter their age or home language.  We live next to four international schools so he loves to just go down to the playground at our apartment complex and find some playmates. I think the biggest complaint I’ve heard from families is that their kid feels isolated, so the parents considering a move here, ask to be placed in an apartment complex with many other families. Two popular ones are Canons and Samjeong in the GEC.

I think Jeju is a wonderful place for families with kids in kindergarten to 5th grade (I haven’t interacted with people who have older kids so I don’t really have any feedback for those ages). Single young people tend to only spend a year or two here before they realize that there isn’t very much nightlife. People who seem the happiest here love the outdoors (hiking, beaches, surfing, etc). It reminds me so much of the PNW that I immediately fell in love with Jeju!

I did find a salsa group about a 45-minute drive from us, but they don’t start most events/classes until 8PM which makes it too difficult for me to attend now that I don’t have a nanny for my son.  I’m not terribly gutted because I’ve been told that it is New York style salsa (on-2) and I am craving the Cuban-style salsa that I did for so long in Venezuela and Portland. 

What questions do you have about Jeju? Write them below! I will try to write more posts!